WagMommy: game plan

Pictures are a funny thing aren't they? I see this and think, wow, how amazingly lucky are they to have each other and how blessed am I to be their mom. But seconds prior to taking it, I was like ohmagoodness please stop the screaming! It's usually Addie and Angus. But it's sooo high pitched. And seconds later I told them to get down before someone got hurt. But what a great picture. Winter's totally fine by the way. It was her idea.

I know most of the time I post my failures and funny things my kids have done. But I've learned a few things about parenting that I'm not sure I've shared with anyone so why not share them on the blog.

I can only think of one right now but I'm sure there are more. I hope there are more. I've learned that I get overwhelmed and frazzled pretty easily. I move slowly and process slowly, and having four little people coming at me with questions makes me start to sweat. Especially when we're out and about. I quickly go from loving happy mommy to psycho snappy mommy.

So, when I take my kids anywhere, like Target, a birthday party or a restaurant, before we get out of the car, I give them the game plan. Dan actually started this whole game plan thing before we would enter a restaurant. Now I do it when he's at work and I have no choice but to bring all four with me somewhere.

We talk about what we are going to do there and what I expect from them. Sometimes I forget to do this but when I remember, things go soooo much smoother. I try not to take all four of them anywhere by myself because that's just asking for crazy town. But if I do take them to somewhere like Target for instance, I tell them we are going in to buy groceries. We are not buying toys. We are not buying clothes. We are not buying treats. They are not allowed to touch or ask for anything. They usually do but I give them a look and then they remember the conversation in the car. I know it sounds pretty strict but if I allow them to ask for things, I have four little people asking for everything in the store the minute we walk in; sometimes before we even enter. And if I allow them to touch things, well that never ends well. Angus has had a meltdown more than once because he couldn't take the red separator thingy home. You know, the one on the moving counter that separates your groceries from the stranger before and after you.

Unfortunately, I learned this little helpful peptalk thing late in the game with the older two but I started pretty early with Addie and Angus. It has been super helpful. And a lot of the time there is some kind of reward like letting them pick out a new fun cereal or a piece of candy when we get home.

There you go. It may or may not be helpful to you if you have little kids. You could always try it out anyway.

So, I have wanted to mention this food tip several times before, and figured that everyone already knew about it. But then I come in contact with another person that doesn't, and wonder just how many people do know about it.

Homemade ranch dressing. Well, kind of homemade. If you haven't had it before, your life may be changed forever. You know, those Hidden Valley packets you can find on the dressing aisle at the store. You just add milk and mayo. And no light stuff. Whole milk and good ol' full fat mayo. I guess whatever you have in the fridge will work. The downside to making it from scratch is that you can't really go back to the bottled kind. It's just not the same. In fact, no one in my house will consume ranch from the bottle. They insist on the homemade kind. And there you have it. Do what you want with that information. It's also a good way to get kids to eat veggies, just like the commercials. Do they still have those commercials?

And one more thing I've been meaning to mention. Have you tried the Marco Polo app? I am loving it. It's basically a video message app. It keeps me in touch with loved ones that I would have no time to call. I can send a video message to my sister during the day when she's teaching and she can send a video message back on her lunch break. I have friends and family all over the place. And I feel more connected to them when I can see their face and hear their voice. It's like they are down the street instead of in another state. And Dan just downloaded it so now he can send videos to the kids when he's at work and vice versa. It just makes so much more sense for us since we rarely have spare time to facetime anyone and when we do, they aren't available to talk. Especially if there's a time difference. Dad if you're reading this, you really should download the app.

I'm late to post this week because of a small emergency that happened Wednesday. Mya collided with a boy at school. Her nose hit his forehead. He has a bump on his head. That's how hard they hit. So, she went to the nurses office and her nose continued to bleed for an hour. They tried to get a hold of me the whole time. I was at a mom's group listening to an awesome speaker so I turned my phone off and put it in my purse minutes before the school called. I usually leave it on the table in silent mode so I'm still able to see if anyone calls, mainly the school. But not that day. Of course not that day.

I still feel sooooo much guilt that they weren't able to get a hold of me. She was just sitting there bleeding, just waiting for her mom who was not answering her phone. They were able to get a hold of Dan who was at work 20 minutes away and he had to leave work and come to the school. I ended up eventually looking at my phone and got to the school around the same time as Dan. I expected him to be livid since not answering my phone is one of his pet peeves and he had to take the day off.

But to my surprise, he calmly told me that it was okay. I was suspicious, like maybe he was waiting until later to get mad. But nope, he remained calm. We've had a few conversations recently about the fact that I do dumb stuff and I will continue to do dumb stuff because that is who I am and he really shouldn't get mad because I'm not trying to screw up. I'm just not built like him. He's on top of everything, and I'm kind of just trying to survive the day without losing my keys... or a kid.

That was the ultimate test and he passed with flying colors. He really is the best. Anyway, it turns out that Mya's nose is not broken, praise Jesus. She's pretty cute and I would hate for her nose to get messed up. It's still a little swollen between her eyes but it should go back to normal in a day or two.

Another highlight from this week: Mya woke up at 4:00AM because daylight savings happened and now everyone wakes up at totally random times throughout the morning because their internal clocks are super messed up. She decided to be helpful and feed the dogs, at 4:00AM. Then, the old dog, feeling full from breakfast, walked upstairs and took a giant dump in the hall. So Dan and I woke up to that lovely smell. Awesome. No pic needed.

Oh, here's a pic of Addie from soccer practice. She asked me why she had to wear pants and I couldn't giver her a good answer.